footnote

[ foot-noht ]

noun

1. an explanatory or documenting note or comment at the bottom of a page, referring to a specific part of the text on the page.
2. a minor or tangential comment or event added or subordinated to a main statement or more important event.

verb (used with object)

, foot·not·ed, foot·not·ing.

1. to add a footnote or footnotes to (a text, statement, etc.); annotate:

   to footnote a dissertation.

footnote

/ ˈfʊtˌnəʊt /

noun

1. a note printed at the bottom of a page, to which attention is drawn by means of a reference mark in the body of the text
2. an additional comment, as to a main statement

verb

1. tr to supply (a page, book, etc) with footnotes

Word History and Origins

Origin of footnote¹

First recorded in 1835–45; foot + note

Example Sentences

Labour insiders point to a footnote on their election material that clarified the manifesto commitment only applied to employee NICs, and say they were attacked on this point in Conservative ads and speeches.

From BBC

The sequence made everything else about Friday night feel like a footnote.

From Los Angeles Times

“I think that if Trump loses the election, RFK Jr. will become a footnote, but I do think the damage has already been done,” Ezell said.

From Salon

In 2006, The Times looked back on both assassination attempts and found they were becoming footnotes in history.

From Los Angeles Times

Taliban government deputy spokesman Hamdullah Fitrat, who didn’t want to be pictured with a woman or sit directly opposite me, justified the new edict, which came accompanied with copious footnotes - references to religious texts.

From BBC

Related Words

• explanation
• reference

Footnote Vs. Endnote

What’s the difference between a footnote and an endnote?

A footnote is a note at the bottom (the “foot”) of a page. An endnote is a note at the end of a text (such as an article, a chapter, or an entire book).

The difference between footnotes and endnotes is their location, not their function. Both consist of information added to a text in another spot, such as an explanation or a citation of a source. They are both usually indicated with some kind of mark, often an asterisk* or a number¹. The same mark appears in another part of the text along with the corresponding note, either at the bottom of the page (making it a footnote) or at the end of the text (making it an endnote).

Of course, if an article is only a single page, the note at the end could be called a footnote or an endnote.

Here’s an example of footnote and endnote used correctly in the same sentence.

Example: I use footnotes for tangential information so that readers can access it without turning the page, but I use endnotes for citations so they don’t clutter up the page.

Want to learn more? Read the full breakdown of the difference between footnote and endnote.

Quiz yourself on footnote vs. endnote!

Should footnote or endnote be used in the following sentence?

I thought I had a lot more to read, but then I realized that there is a 27-page _____ section at the end of the book!